The present invention relates to an axle assembly which utilizes a plurality of electric motors, and more particularly to an axle configuration which locates the electric motors in a parallel arrangement relative to the axle assembly.
There is an increasing demand for the use of hybrid electric driven and hybrid electric assisted vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles typically utilize electric motor driven axles which are often of a multi-axle configuration in military and specialty vehicle systems.
The electric motors are typically sized to meet both torque and speed requirements which may not be the most effective for the operational requirements of such vehicles. Relatively large electric motors are often utilized to meet the torque requirements which may result in an oversized motor for most operational conditions. Moreover, the relatively large electric motors may be difficult to package in a multi-axle vehicle configuration.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a lightweight and compact electric motor driven axle configuration which allows the usage of a multiple of relatively smaller electric motors for incorporation into a multi-axle military and specialty vehicle system.